The appointment of Dinakaran was announced a day after the Supreme Court upheld Sasikala Natarajan’s conviction in the DA case. The deputy general secretary post of AIADMK is newly created one.

After taking charge in the party post, Dinakaran hinted at a harmonic relation with expelled leader and former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. The party would “accept with motherly affection” anybody who had gone out of the “parent organisation” and wanted to return said Dinakaran.

He also resisted the criticism that he was upraised “suddenly” in the party, saying he had been brought into AIADMK by the late CM Jayalalithaa in the early days itself. And that he had been given various party posts and even made Rajya sabha member by her he said while addressing the media after formally taking charge.

‘The party had faced “betrayals” in the past too, but had successfully overcome them’ Dinakaran said when asked about Panneerselvam’s plans to conduct a statewide campaign against the present AIADMK leadership.

However, referring to the defection of MLAs and MPs to the Panneerselvam camp, he said that some had “lost their way and moved away from the mother movement.” “We have the confidence that anybody who had left the mother movement will return to our fold,”

Asked if Panneerselvam would also be allowed to return, he said: “the party will receive with motherly affection and accept anybody who had left the parent organisation.”

Dinakaran’s comments come in the wake of Panneerselvam’s expulsion by AIADMK general secretary Sasikala Natarajan following his revolt against her in the wake of her election as All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Legislature Party leader on February 5th.

Panneerselvam, who had quit as Chief Minister then, had revolted against her, alleging he was forced to step down to make way for her.

Sasikala Natarajan aka Chinamma was convicted by the Apex court in an assets case on February 14 and she is lodged in the central jail at Parapana Agrahara Jail at Bengaluru.

Dinakaran insisted the main rival of AIADMK was DMK as AIADMK had been founded by the late MG Ramachandran against that very party and its chief M Karunanidhi, Dinakaran replied to a question on who was his party’s main rival — DMK leader MK Stalin or Panneerselvam.

“You must have seen in the Assembly also. They tried to use Panneerselvam to overthrow the AIADMK government but failed. You are seeing the daily dramas being enacted by MK Stalin. AIADMK was founded against DMK and they are our main rival,” Dinakaran said.

He said Stalin was “dejected” that he could not “topple” the AIADMK government and was, therefore, doing things like staging a hunger strike or flying to Delhi to meet President Pranab Mukherjee.

DMK working President MK Stalin had earlier left for Delhi to apprise the President on the incidents that unfolded during the February 18 floor test won by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, amidst en masse eviction of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

TTV Dinakaran is sure that “the golden rule of Amma will continue under the guidance of Chinnamma. We will work for the welfare of people of the state.”

Dinakaran claimed that there was no public anger against AIADMK. “It is artificial, a planned attempt by enemies to spread a fake publicity.”

Prior to former Member of Parliament (MP) Dinakaran’s appointment as deputy general secretary, Sasikala had re-admitted him and another nephew S Venkatesh as members of the party.

In a statement, Sasikala had said that the two had expressed apology for their past acts in person and in writing and requested for re-admission into the party.

Earlier Jayalalithaa expelled TTV Dinakaran along with Sasikla and others from the primary membership of party in 2011. Though Jayalalithaa gave no reason for their expulsion, the AIADMK sources said that time that the interference of Sasikala, Dinakaran and other family members in the administration and political overreach were the reasons for their downfall.